Time ticking on SME broadband voucher scheme

Government urges SMEs to claim £3,000 broadband grants before £40m budget runs dry

More than 40,000 businesses have signed up to a UK government scheme, launched earlier in the year to boost the performance of their broadband services.

Digital economy minister Ed Vaizey has encouraged businesses to apply for the £3,000 broadband grants - which are in the form of vouchers - before the £40m budget runs out.

The SMEs that have joined the initiative have claimed around £26.8m, leaving about £15m still in the kitty to be spent on superfast broadband.

London is leading the UK with 11,664 businesses jumping on board, according to a government update on the scheme, which also stated that 1,000 new applications are coming in from around the UK each week.

Manchester has the second-highest number of successful applicants at 4,163, followed by Leeds and Bradford with 4,016 SMEs.

The government said having an improved broadband connection has seen those who took advantage of the scheme grow into and access new markets through better communication with customers.

Others have upped security with faster and more secure data backup, and faster upload and download speed has seen an increase in productivity and quality of customer service.

Vaizey (pictured) said: "Our offer to small businesses has been a tremendous success and is proving incredibly popular.

"Businesses need to act now to ensure they don't miss out on this fantastic offer and I am urging all eligible businesses to apply now before it's too late."